Austria (-Hungary) and Finland 1899 – 1938

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Rudolf Agstner

The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian honorary consulate in Helsingfors

1882 - 1914

The Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) consular service has its origin in article 5 of

the Trade Treaty, concluded on 17 July 1718 in Passarowitz (Pozarevac, Serbia)

between the plenipotentiaries of Emperor Charles VI and of Sultan Selim III. It

granted the Habsburg rulers the right to establish consulates in those ports of the

Ottoman Empire, where foreign consuls already resided – that is those of Venice,

France, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Spain. Empress Maria Theresia

ordered consulates to be established in the West, along the Adriatic and

Mediterranean, as well as the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain. The consular

network reached the Baltic shores in 1782, when honorary consulates were

established in Kopenhagen and Helsingör, followed by St. Petersburg in 1783, Riga

in 1794, Danzig/Gdansk in 1832, Stockholm in 1844, Reval/Tallinn in 1867 and

Kronstadt in 1881.

In 1860, “merchant John Sergeeff from Helsingfors” had applied for the post of

Austrian honorary consul to be established there. Ambassador Count Thun-

Hohenstein, while seeing no need for sich a consular office, forwarded the

application to Vienna. The Central Maritime Authority in Trieste concluded “that in

view of the lack of Austrian trade relations with Helsingfors there is no need at

present for the suggested consular representation, and in addition, the candudate

would not have the required qualifications for a consular post.” No action was taken,

as was shortly afterwards when the Hannoverian honorary consul in Wyborg, J.

Dippel, applied for the post of Austrian honorary consul.

The Austro-Hungarian consular – and merchant marine – flag (1868-1918)

Coat of arms shield of an Imperial & Royal Austro-Hungarian Consulate (before

1900)

Paper seal of the Imperial & Royal Austro-Hungarian (honorary) consulate

Helsingfors

It was only in 1881, that the Vienna Chamber of Trade suggested establishing

an honorary consular office in Helsingfors, “whose wealthy population of 43.000 souls

and very important import trade could open a new and profitable market namely for

Austrian and Hungarian wines and a whole series of manufactured goods and

haberdashery […].” On 13 January 1882 German merchant Carl Max Otto ( * Trier,

Germany 25 April 1853 + Helsinki 13 June 1926) was appointed Imperial & Royal

Austro-Hungarian honorary vice-consul in Helsingfors by Emperor Franz Joseph I.

With only one consular post Austro-Hungarian consular presence in Finland was

rather poor compared to Germany’s consulate-general in Helsingfors and 11

honorary consular offices. During Otto’s tenure the consulate was located at Glogata

6, business hours were from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

By Imperial resolution of 8 June 1902 the vice-consulate was upgraded to

consulate, and Otto was promoted from honorary consul ad personam – which he

had been made in 1892 after ten years in office - to honorary consul-general ad

personam. The reason was that by 1902 most foreign powers had, “in view of the

commercial importance of Helsingfors and the easy access of Finnish markets to

foreign trade” upgraded their vice-consulates to consulates or consulates-general,

leaving only Austria-Hungary, the US and Brazil to follow this example, “which would

enhance the prestige of the office with the population and the administration {…].”

The 12 archive boxes of the honorary consulate Helsingfors disclose that

between 1894 and 1914 only 110 male Austrian and Hungarian citizens had

registered with the consulate, whose main task was to facilitate their stay; only a

limited number stayed for a longer period, one remained forever. On 12 April 1914

the consulate reported „that the Hungarian citizen, musician Victor Novacek from

Temesvar (Timisoara, Romania) had shot himself on 3 March in Helsingfors […], his

estate consisting of two suitcases.” Novacek had for 15 years lives as a repetiteur in

Turku and was buried in Helsinki’s Gamla cemetery.

As Carl Max Otto was severely ill, he spent, starting in summer of 1909,

several years in a warmer climate, staying at Lake Starnberg (Germany) and Meran

(Merano), Görz (Gorizia) and Bozen (Bolzano) in Austria. On 10 August 1909 he

handed over the consulate’s business to Kurt Mitterhusen (* Lübeck, Germany 12

December 1861 + Helsinki 30 October 1921), a resident of Helsingfors since 1885,

where he became director of C.M.Otto & Co. and honorary chancellor of the Austro-

Hungarian vice-consulate. He was appointed honorary vice-consul on 24 May 1910

and requested to carry on as caretaker. He resigned at the end of 1913; the

resignation was accepted by the Emperor on 23 January 1914, and he carried on

until the new honorary consul took over in July 1914.

Post card addressed to the Austro-Hungarian consulate Helsingfors,

Russia! (1914)

In 1913 two candidates for the post of Austro-Hungarian consul were

identified: Walther Ahlquist, a Swede, whose wife was a born Nobel, very rich, but

living far away from Helsingfors, and German national Ferdinand G.W. Stamer (*

Wira estate near St. Petersburg 3 July 1863 + Lübeck 18 March 1932), a resident of

Helsingfors since 1889, where he ran an business importing coffee, cereals and flour,

and in 1912 had established the company Ferd. Stamer & Co. On 8 March 1914,

Emperor Franz Joseph I. appointed Ferdinand G.W. Stamer Austro-Hungarian

honorary consul in Helsingfors; he took over on 21 July 1914 from caretaker

Mitterhusen. As Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on 6 August 1914, Stamer’s

consular career in Helsingfors lasted only two weeks. He managed to escape to

Sweden to avoid internment. Protection of Austro-Hungarian interests in Russia was

entrusted to the United States, and in April 1917 to Denmark, and in some places to

Sweden. In February 1916 Stamer declared his willingness “to head, for the duration

of the war, the Imperial German consulate in Lulea”; he was made “Imperial German

consul” and acted as head of Germany’s honorary consulate from 7 April 1916 to

autumn of 1917. From Wiesbaden, Germany, Stamer in February 1918 informed the

Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry of his intention to settle in Stockholm in March

1918, in order to return to Helsingfors “as the return of order now seems imminent”.

However, contrary to Stamer’s expectations, he was not reinstated as honorary

consul and until June of 1919 the Swedish consul in Helsingfors continued to protect

Austrian and Hungarian interests.

The Imperial & Royal Austro-Hungarian Embassy in St. Petersburg reporting on

Finland 1899-1914

Alexander Baron Musulin (* Zagreb 27 October 1868 + Fridau, Lower Austria 9

January 1947), who served as secretary of legation at the embassy in St. Petersburg

from 1899 to 1900 and 1901 to 1903, and was head of the Department “Serbia” –

known as “War Department” - in the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry from 1914 to

1917, was the only St. Petersburg-based diplomat later mentioning Finland in his

memoirs, highlighting i.a. the Austro-Hungarian position towards the Grand-Duchy:

“Disregarding the close environment of St. Petersburg, the islands, the parks of the

imperial palaces in Peterhof, Gatschina and Zarsjkoje […] the only option for an

excursion [….] was across the Finnish border, which was less than an hour away

from St. Petersburg. Such an excursion was of more than just scenic interest. The

Finnish question was one of the main problems of Russian internal politics […].

Europe’s judgement of the actions of Russia’s rulers towards Finland was uniform in

condemnation. Strangely enough the judgement of diplomats in St. Petersburg,

which had the opportunity to study the situation on the spot, was far milder […]. It

was indeed surprising to see that the mighty, high-handed and repressive Russia

tolerated a customs boundary in immediate vicinity to its capital, where Finnish

customs officials performed customs control in a by no means accommodating

manner, that Russian money and Russian postage stamps had no value less than an

hour from the capital […].” It should be remembered that the historic border between

the Holy Roman Empire, later Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary until

1920 was a mere 37 km from Vienna at Bruck on the river Leitha.

Austro-Hungarian diplomats stationed in Russia’s capital mainly reported on

Russia’s activities in the Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria) or Russian relations

with France, Great Britain and Japan, and her designs on the Ottoman Empire or

Persia, devoting their attention only to a limited extent to the situation in Finland.

What makes these reports more important than others are the authors: Alois Lexa

Baron Aehrenthal, ambassador in St. Petersburg from 1899 to 1906, became Austro-

Hungarian Foreign Minister from 1906 to 1912, his successor as ambassador,

Leopold Count Berchtold (1906-1911) followed him as Foreign Minister from 1912 to

1915; his name is on the famous telegram sent on 28 July 1914 from Vienna to

Belgrade, starting World War I. An important source of information was Austro-

Hungarian honorary consul in Helsingfors, C.M. Otto, who regularly provided the

embassy with detailed reports of 20 pages or more on the internal situation; as a

merchant, he obviously concentrated on economic and trade aspects.

Palais Polowtsow, Austro-Hungarian Embassy in St. Petersburg 1896-

1914 (photo 1998)

In the period 1899 to 1914, a total of 97 reports deal with the situation in Finland;

their number reached 10 in 1904 and 14 in 1909, reflecting the increasing problems

encountered by the Tsarist Government. Some of them are not related to Finland, as

the meetings between German Emperor Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II in Finnish

ports. Austro-Hungarian diplomats reported on Russian attempts to modify the status

of the Grand Duchy by introducing the Russian compulsory military service or

Russian customs, the short life of the Finnish Landtag, and the problems

encountered by the Tsarist Government, the danger of assimilation of the small

Finnish nation or the admiration of Tsar Nicholas’ mother, Danish princess Dagmar,

for the “valiant Finnish people” and her criticism of her son’s policies. When Russia’s

Governor-General Bobrikow was murdered in 1904, Aehrenthal reported the

sentiment prevailing in the Russian capital “that it was surprising that he was not

assassinated earlier.” In 1912 caretaker von Szilassy felt “the pernicious effect of the

lasted law adopted by the Duma [...]. It is only natural that as a practical result a

major discontent manifests itself in Finland. The future appears in black […].“ The

following year, caretaker Otto Count Czernin, brother of the Foreign Minister of the

years 1915-1918, noted that “even if all the local accusations poisoning the relations

between Russia and Austria – Hungary would reflect the truth, they in no way come

anywhere near what is devised here against Poland, Finland and all elements not

complying with the wishes of Russian nationalism.”

The peace-treaty of 19 May 1918 and first diplomatic and consular contacts

between Austria-Hungary and Finland

In January of 1918 a Finnish delegation was in Berlin to discuss the

recognition of Finland by the German Reich. Desiring to proceed to Vienna, Austro-

Hungarian administration acted swiftly. The Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian

Supreme Army Command on 8 January 1918 at 21.20 p.m. cabled the following

instruction to the border-station between Germany and Austria at Teschen (Decin,

Czech Republic): „Grant free passage to mission consisting of State Councillor Dr.

Hjelt, Miss Lijequist-Hjelt, Prof. Erich, Director Sanoy, passing through Berlin-

Bodenbach-Teschen on 9 January.“

The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Ottokar Count Czernin, then in Brest-

Litowsk, instructed the first section chief of his ministry, Ludwig Baron von Flotow, on

9 January 1918 at 1 p.m. „to prepare an immediate submission to the Emperor

requesting His Majesty „”to pronounce, in the name of Austria-Hungary, the

recognition of the independent Republic of Finland.” The Foreign Ministry was

informed, by phone, the same day that “His Majesty approved the request in your

Excellency’s immediate submission.”

On 7 March 1918 the peace treaty between the German Reich and Finland

was signed in Berlin, Dr. Hjelt handing over a copy of the printed version to Austro-

Hungarian ambassador Prince Hohenlohe on 13 March 1918. The following day, 14

March, Count Czernin, then in Budapest negotiating the peace treaty between

Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire with Romania, learned

of Germany’s peace treaty with Finland, he was under the impression that Germany

had been acting behind the back of its Viennese ally. It turned out, that the Austro-

Hungarian ambassador in Berlin had not forwarded a German invitation to her ally to

join in the peace talks to Vienna. This negligence resulted in the peace treaty

between Austria-Hungary and Finland being concluded in Vienna on 29 May 1918

only. It was signed for Austria-Hungary by two Hungarians - Foreign Minister Stephan

Count Burian and 1st section chief Kajetan Mérey von Kapos-Mere, and for Finland

by her minister in Berlin Dr. Hjelt, and Dr. Allan Serlachius.

According to the Austrian and Hungarian constitutions, the Emperor had to

authorize the Prime Ministers of the Austrian and the Hungarian parts of the

Monarchy to submit the peace treaty to their respective parliaments for approval. In

13 July 1918 the Emperor, in Eckartsau near Vienna, approved the request by the

Austrian Prime Minister, followed on 15 July 1918 by the identical Hungarian

counterpart. The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Stephan Count Burian on 27

September 1918 submitted the peace treaty of 29 May 1918 to Emperor and King

Charles for ratification, drawing His Majesty’s attention to the fact that “the Finnish

parliament already on 18 July 1918 had ratified the peace treaty, and that the Finnish

Government had requested on several occasions its urgent ratification by Austria-

Hungary, as the Finnish Government was attaching the greatest importance to

establishing orderly political and economic relations […]”

Emperor Charles signed the instruments of ratification of the peace treaties

with Finland and with Romania in his Villa Wartholz in Reichenau / Rax on 30

September 1918. Article II of the peace treaty stipulated that „immediately after

ratification of the peace treaty […] diplomatic and consular relations“ are to be

established.

The Finnish Government was the first to act. On 12 October 1918 the Finnish

Legation in Berlin informed the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry of the appointment

of Johannes Palmgren as Finnish consul in Vienna (see next chapter.)

On 15 October 1918 the Austro-Hungarian government asked for the

agrément for Erich Baron Zwiedinek-Südenhorst (* 19 August 1870 +?) as minister

resident. Zwiedinek had been counsellor at the Washington embassy since 1912,

and – ambassador Dumba having been declared “persona non grata” – chargé

d’affaires a.i. from 1 October 1915 to 8 April 1917, when Austria-Hungary broke

relations with the US. He was serving in the Foreign Ministry, when Foreign Minister

Count Burian in the middle of October 1918 prepared the following submission to the

Emperor. “As the Peace Treaty [with Finland] has been ratified on 10 October and in

view of the desirability to establish diplomatic relations with this state without delay,

the appointment of a Minister Resident to the Finnish Government in Helsingfors is

required.” Burian suggested appointing Erich Baron Zwiedinek-Südenhorst, and

following the example of Germany, to grant him the title of Envoy extraordinary and

Minister plenipotentiary. The submission never reached the Emperor, and Burian

resigned on 24 October 1918. Nonetheless, Ambassador Prince Hohenlohe in Berlin

was instructed on 15 October to seek the agrément for Zwiedinek from the Finnish

Government thru the good offices of the Finnish legation. The Finnish government

gave a positive response on 25th of October 1918. On 30 October, Hohenlohe cabled

that “the Finnish Government welcomed the appointment of counsellor Zwiedinek as

Imperial and Royal Minister Resident in Helsingfors.” It was too late – the following

day the Kingdom of Hungary severed its ties to the Austrian part of the Habsburg

Monarchy, bringing an end to Austria-Hungary. Zwiedinek never left Vienna; he was,

from 26 April to 18 November 1919, chargé d’affaires of the Austro-Hungarian

legation in liquidation in Copenhagen, and was pensioned on 31 October 1919.

On 31 October 1918 the chief of the general staff suggested to the chancery of

the Emperor appointing Captain Franz Brandstetter Austro-Hungarian military attaché

in Finland. It was too late. On 6 November 1918 the Emperor initialled the following

decision: “Until clarification of the political situation the appointment of a military

attaché will not be considered.”

Under these conditions, no Austro-Hungarian diplomat, consul or military

attaché was ever sent to Finland.

Note Verbale of the Finnish Legation in Berlin of 12 October 1918 concerning

appointment of Johannes Palmgren as Finnish consul in Vienna

The Austrian consulate in Helsingfors and the Finnish consulate in Vienna

between the Wars

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Austria and the Republic of

Finland were dealt with by non-resident ministers. In the case of Finland its legation

in Berlin was covering Austria from 1922 to 1933, and later the minister in

Kopenhagen was accredited to Austria until 1938. In the case of Austria, the minister

in Berlin was accredited to Finland since 1924; in 1927, responsibility for Finland was

transferred to the newly established legation in Stockholm. In the absence of resident

ministers, honorary consul-generals became the backbone of the bilateral relations.

The Finnish consulate-general in Vienna 1918-1938

In October of 1918, Finland appointed Johannes Palmgren (* Turku 1873? +

Helsinki 28 October 1928) consul („consul missus“) in Vienna. Palmgren had for 25

years lived in St. Petersburg, where he ran a bookshop and represented Finnish

companies; he fled to Sweden after the Communist takeover and became head of

the commercial department of the Finnish legation in Stockholm. Palmgren’s

appointment was duly taken note of and the Governor of Lower Austria, where

Vienna is situated, informed. The file ends on 12 November 1918, date of the

proclamation of the Republic of German Austria. Under the circumstances he was not

granted the exequatur by Emperor Charles I. Palmgren established his office in Hotel

Bristol next to the State Opera, he however left for Berlin on 14 November 1918, from

where he looked after Finnish consular interests in Austria.

After the Republic had been proclaimed, Palmgren was granted the exequatur

by the Directorate of the State Council of the Republic of German Austria on 11

January 1919. In 1919 he lived in Turku, where he joined AB Merkator OY, whose

managing director he was until his death. He also served at Latvian honorary consul

in Turku.

Exequatur granted to Finnish consul Johannes Palmgren by the Republic of German Austria

As no Finnish consulate existed in Vienna for more than two years, in May of

1921 the Viennese Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Trade, in view of Finland

having “energetically overcome bolshevism” and being on its way to establish a

sound economy, suggested the Finnish Government may wish to establish an

honorary consulate in Vienna and appoint Arthur Knöpfelmacher (* Vienna 21 August

1873 + South America after 1938), formerly owner of a shoe factory, its honorary

consul in Vienna. Helsinki apparently refused, and in 1922 Knöpfelmacher was made

honorary consul general of Costa Rica. Of Jewish origin, he left Vienna on 15

December 1938 for an unknown destination, probably South America.

In its meeting of 17 February 1922 the Austrian Council of Ministers approved

the request of the Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold Hennet to propose to the

President the granting of the exequatur as consul-general of Finland to Konrad

Georg Fazer (* Helsingfors 30 April 1864 + Helsinki 7 October 1940), who since 20

February 1922 lived on Stubenring 18. In 1897 K.G.Fazer had, together with R. E.

Westerlund, bought Miss Melan’s music shop in Helsinki’s Aleksanderingatu 11,

relocating it to the corner of Aleksanterin- and Fabianinkatu. In 1904 he became sole

owner of the music store, transforming it into a joint-stock company in 1919.

Protocol of the Council of Ministers of 17 February 1922, on the granting of the exequatur to Konrad

Georg Fazer

Fazer remained barely a year in office. He was succeeded by Czechoslovak

citizen Erwin Philipp (* Vienna 20 March 1873 +?) as Finnish honorary consul-

general. Philipp was a director of Dynamit Nobel in Vienna, who established the

consulate on Kolowratring 6 (since 1928 Schubertring). As Jew, Philipp left Vienna on

12 March 1938 for nearby Bratislava in Czechoslovakia. In a note of the German

Foreign Office of 30 July 1938 on the status of foreign consuls in Vienna – Germany

was keen to terminate the activities of Jewish honorary consuls - Erwin Philipp is

listed as “Czechslovak, Jew, escaped”; however, he still figures in the consular list of

1 January 1939 as honorary consul-general, assisted by Kauko Supinen, vice-consul,

at the address Trattnerhof 2.

The Austrian honorary consulate in Helsingfors 1921-1938

In October of 1921 German merchant Julius Fritz Achilles (* Lübeck 10 June

1877 + Helsinki 10 March 1952) was appointed Austrian honorary consul in

Helsingfors. Achilles had settled in Finland in 1899, working for Emil Aspelund in

Vaasa, and in 1902 had joined AB Sören Berner & Co., whose manager and co-

owner he became in 1904 for the next 40 years. On a business trip in Scotland in

August of 1914, he was interned there as enemy alien until 1919, when he returned

to Helsinki. Appointed honorary consul in October of 1924, he was made honorary

consul-general on 27 November 1925 and served in this capacity until 1 March 1938.

During these years, the consulate was located at Södra Kajen 4 (1922), Västra Kajen

6 (1923-1929 and Södra Kajen 4 (1930-1938).

His deputy, honorary consul Leopold Klusacek-Jauregg (* Okrisko, Moravia /

Czech Republic 1 November 1877 + Pressbaum, Lower Austria 8 December 1961)

took over as caretaker on 1 March 1938. He was an ex Austro-Hungarian colonel,

who had been pensioned in 1919; settling in Finland, he became director and 99%

owner of AB Silvana in Helsinki. He had been honorary vice-consul since December

of 1924 and honorary consul since December of 1925. In view of the Anschluss of

Austria on 13 March 1938, neither Klusacek nor lawyer Erik Johan Sakavi Castrén, a

partner of Jonas Castrén lawyers, was appointed Austrian honorary consul-general,

nor was the official name of the post ever changed from “Helsingfors” to “Helsinki”.

Klusacek’s company was nationalised in 1944, when he left for Stockholm; it became

Soviet property in 1946.